A Court of Fire and Shadow

Chapter 27

It had been weeks... Weeks of trying to infiltrate the fucking castles of the human queens. Nala and Azriel had tried every kind of way that they knew of, even shadow traveling in but still nothing. Nala had seen the wards around the first castle they had seen and had told Azriel about them. He had been perplexed but still had considered it, and changed plans over and over again. Nala had sniffed around, trying to find holes in the wards but they had been strong all around. She had even looked for any runes like she had seen before the door in Spring Court all that time ago, but there hadn't been any, and if there were she couldn't find them. 

Azriel had gone back to the Night Court a few times to relay their process and lack thereof to Rhys. Nala had stayed every time, hoping to have some kind of breakthrough. That is where she was standing right now, alone in the shadows along the outer walls of this fucking castle. 

"Why will you not let me in?" Nala asked the massive dome of magic that separated her and the home of one of the queens. "Why? What is your secret?" She walked along the ward, keeping just a few centimeters between her body and the magic. She didn't want it to go off but wanted to be close to it to better understand. She might have been too tired for this, but for a single second, it had seemed like the ward had shimmered and twirled, almost in response to her voice. She didn't get to question it much because Azriel materialized not far to her left a second later with a grim look on his face. 

"The queen wants to meet at your family home tomorrow morning," he spoke in that deep voice of his. Had she not been on edge from this impossible mission, the thought of returning to her sisters' home, and the thought of them not being able to get the other half of the book, she might have been turned on by the rasp in his voice. Despite the weeks they had been on this mission neither of them had commented on the golden and silver bond that ran between them and the bloodthirsty female back home. Nala had wanted to, many times, but each time she had thought to do it, something had stopped her, something inside her that said that now was not the right time. That she should shut her mouth until Amren was with them or until Azriel had a chance to meet Varian. She knew that Amren had told Azriel about the summer courtier, but Nala still felt apprehensive about her feelings towards these Faes. Deep inside she knew that she had every right to feel the way she did. But she couldn't help the guilt and shame that crept up on her when she thought of all of them being together in the way she wanted. her upbringing in the human world shamed any kind of relation that were not one man and one woman. And she truly had no idea what Prythian had of thought on this. She knew that Fae saw mate bonds as the ultimate power as it is a union blessed by the Mother herself, but four people? Was that pushing the openness of the Faes? Would the other courts shame her and her mates like the humans would? She knew that her sister, Rhys, and Cassian wouldn't bat an eye at the idea. Mor didn't like Nala, and honestly, Nala didn't much care for Mor either. But she at least knew that the blonde wouldn't say anything against their union as long as Az and Amren were happy. But would Night Court suffer if this became public? 

"Okay," she finally answered the other shadowsinger after her shadows nudged her out of her spiral. "Let us make our way there now then." 

Azriel nodded with a stoic face. He hadn't shown many emotions since they left Night Court all those weeks ago. When he was on a mission, he truly became the feared shadowsinger that brought countless enemies to their knees. And his mood had only decreased with each set back the two had encountered. 

The two took to the sky and with on more look at the massive barrier Nala made her way toward the manor where her family now live. I could have sworn that the barrier had stretched after me...